Avenger Assembled

Optimized Silver Age Build #3: Guitar Hero AA's Notes: I was inspired to make these characters because of how sad I was that good art and good concepts got kiboshed by bad character design. My philosophy here was "Keep the same point expenditures, but make them not suck." This character is one of the finest musicians in the world. The Guitar Hero can also blow up a tank with the POWER OF ROCK! So what's not to love? Saves aren't great, but that lifestyle doesn't exactly do wonders for your Will save. (Fort save is very good, though, after some exposure. To, um, stuff. Is this thing on?) I figure his equipment is probably a suitably tricked-out van to tool around the countryside in, with a Masterwork Guitar or two somewhere in the back. If you want, you can probably shuffle some points around and give him the Wonder Dog archetype from Golden Age as his boon companion...

Optimized Silver Age Build #2: Amphibian Warrior AA's Notes: I was inspired to make these characters because of how sad I was that good art and good concepts got kiboshed by bad character design. My philosophy here was "Keep the same point expenditures, but make them not suck." "Hah hah, it's Aquaman!-OH GOD MY FACE!" This Atlantean powerhouse doesn't talk to fish; that's for hippies. An effective warrior in and out of the water, the Amphibian Warrior is a good fighter and planner, a veteran of years of warfare between the Kingdom of Atlantis and its many undersea enemies. She's not a great ambassador to dry land, but the monarch hopes her attitude will cow the surfacers into submission since sweet words usually fail. And if that doesn't work, perhaps the AVENGING WARRIOR OF ATLANTIS! must make with the beating.

Optimized Silver Age Build #1: The Bionic Hero AA's Notes: I was inspired to make these characters because of how sad I was that good art and good concepts got kiboshed by bad character design. My philosophy here was "Keep the same point expenditures, but make them not suck." This is my version of the Bionic Hero archetype listed on Page 58 of the Silver Age book. He's been with The Agency long enough to pick up some low-level spy skills, enough to at least be comparable to his fellow agents, though of course he's not exactly a sneaky dashing spy. He's a nigh-unstoppable juggernaut in an agents game (though with a few weaknesses a canny team could exploit), and an OK PL 10 character. He makes an interesting alternative if you're looking for a patriotic hero type.

Let's just give Arrowhawk the freaking glide-cape already and let Shaen have this stuff. ;)

"Have a lead," said Avengemouse, hefting his sensing unit in one small, delicate hand. "Close. Can smell him." He twitched his nose, having practiced for hours in the mirror to make sure it looked just like a mouse's. "Come, Foalcrum. The day awaits! My costume will let me keep up with you in the air." And with that he flexed his wings and took off, his mighty leather wings just letting him keep pace with Foalcrum in the sky...when she didn't fly fast. "I had to wonder if my counterpart shared my curse." Avengemouse said aloud as he flew. "Did he too know the unquenchable hunger that drove him to the streets night after night? The overpowering urges that could only be soothed by the destruction of evil and the redemption of his very soul? In the company of my young colleague, I kept my own council."

Snare 13, with Affects Insubstantial 2, so that it works even if he stays incorporeal.

Battered by the wildly fluctuating gravity, Avenger stood unmarred save for his dramatically ripping clothes, a figure of power and might defending his domicile from a terrible intruder. "I summon the Crimson Chains of Kasharak! Bind my enemy's soul for my amusement!" He tore open the top piece of his costume, revealing his pale, muscular torso beneath as fountains of blood-red light came pouring from the walls, gushing and swirling around the evil Dark Star.

Avengemouse scrambled up onto a nearby tree, nimbly hanging upside down as he studied the annoyingly well-lit scenery with beady little eyes. "I am a dark and silent sentinel of justice. A lone guardian of darkness, plunged into the bright light of another world so that we may both be saved from our enemies. My only companion is a young, untried..." He twitched the ears that were actually just a cunningly-disguised cowl, seriously, as he realized Foalcrum was watching him. "horse. You see anything, Foalcrum?"

She frowned at that, evidently not understanding the reference, but didn't complain. "What matters is the job is done." She smiled at Kid Cthulu as her ship hovered overhead and said, "If you're ever in the Horsehead Nebula, look me up. There's nothing I like better than fighting alongside a fellow defender of the law." And with that, and a smile, she disappeared in that same column of light.

"They stole that ship," she said with a sad little shake of her head. "And decided to go on a joyride through some of the more primitive planets, robbing as they went. You know they're not even old enough to have a license?" As she spoke, a beam of light came down from the hovering police ship, pulling the fallen saucer inside. "And now they're looking at months in detention, all because they couldn't wait a few more years. Kids, huh?"

"Let's do it the old-fashioned way," Jack suggested. "Though I'm open to persuasion otherwise if you've got a really cool paint spell." He grinned. "Never let it be said I'm not open to what you want." For his part, he walked over to the closet where he'd stored a bucket of good old-fashioned blue paint when they'd first started decorating the room.

The next day around noon, Jack was sitting up with a bottle of blood substitute, slowly watching the painfully bright sun creep down the highly polished wall of the master bedroom. Taylor was in the shower, and he'd taken the opportunity to eat. How long am I going to be stuck with this stuff? he thought, sipping the artificial concoction and glancing at his cellphone. Surely Archeville would call, and pull the two of them out of this hole where they'd fallen into for the last day. Had it been such little time? When was Archeville going to call?

Avenger passes the save I'll wait till Phantom goes, since Avenger's waiting to see if the ritual works.

Mark swam over to join them at that, missing most of the conversation as he came around to stand by the ladies. "Hey Alex," he said cordially, without the rancor some boys might have had around their old girlfriend with their new one around. But then they'd never been more than friends with benefits, really. If first base counted. "Nice party James has, huh? I like his way of thinking." Feeling confident in physicality with Faith, he pecked her on the cheek. "Hey, Faith. You wanna go see the rest of the party?"

The figure in the suit flew up to him, the bulky bubble at the rear turning out to be a jetpack. Once there, it pressed a few buttons around the edge of its helmet, all ominous silence, and pulled away the big grey sphere to reveal a gorgeous humanoid female, her hair an iridescent blue, eyes shimmering green, her voice low and breathy as she said, "Oh, hello. You must be one of the local authorities. I'm Officer Hro Talak of the Lor Interplanetary Authority. Thank you for your assistance in apprehending those criminals."

Eventually the ship came to a halt overhead, its lights and siren still going, and hovered there for several moments. A shimmering column of light formed near the fallen baddies, quickly transforming itself into a humanoid figure in a heavy, bulky suit and big, opaque helmet. Muttering audibly to itself, the figure bent over the fallen criminals and scanned them with some kind of hand sensor. "It's Kara and Lara, all right," it called up to its ship. "Beam them up!" With that a flash of light pulled the alien criminals into the ship, just like the one that had put the visitor there. Waving the sensor around, its face invisible behind the helmet, the suited figure began scanning the nearby area.

Just wanted to reaffirm what I said in chat: Avengmouse! A perfectly normal mouse, if unusually driven and secretive, whose abilities make him a sneaky, terrifying combat monster with great mobility and keen senses. His wings are just part of his costume, of course, and the fangs are just to scare bad guys. He's just a mouse in a bat costume. Really.

Mod note: Libra, that's a DC 20 Reflex/DC 25 Tou save. Unlike most Area attacks, a successful Reflex save results in no damage, not 1/2. You has to have enough Create Object volume to cover the area he's dropping it on, and unless he has Selective, everyone in that area has to save. Note that you are hitting everyone in that area except yourself, since you don't have Selective. Additionally, Libra, I have another concern: We maintain some pretty rigorous standards here as far as writing style. You need to write in a way other people can understand, particularly the lurkers who hare attracted here by the quality of our craftsmanship. That means you write in the third person style. Thoughts go in italics, or underscores, or anything to separate them from your actions. The same goes for dialogue. The only way you have of communicating in this game is by means of what you can write, and if you're not writing in a comprehensible way, it's going to make things very challenging for you.

The two women dropped out of sight over the forest, but they were still too far away for Kid Cthulu to reach immediately. When he did get there, he found them fallen in the soft grass of a large clearing, looking battered from the fall but otherwise all right. Nearby was a silver craft about the size of a minivan, but spread flat like a giant saucer, windows visible at the front and back. No Earthly science had ever crafted that! A few moments later, in a ripple of light above him, a much larger craft came into view: this one glowing with red and white lights along either side, and blaring a loud, dissonant note of sound!

Kid Cthulu's blast struck true, scorching a line of fire along the fleeing super-criminal's side. But she stayed in the air and kept a grip on her friend, dipping low across the city skyline as she headed towards the state forest north of the city. The mall was clear, but the bad guys were getting away!

"Goodness and justice are the same in the darkness and the light both," said Freedom Angel with great seriousness. "The light can be as blinding as the darkness to the wrong set of eyes. Besides, I have excellent night vision." He fluffed his wings a little and added, "I speak to many faithful. Some are disappointed to learn they do not follow the Creator's teachings, particularly those who use the same symbols of His power that I do." The angel's armor was certainly decorated in a Christian style, reminiscent of medieval painting Arrowhawk had seen in Scotland. "It can be easier, sometimes, to deal with others. Like that man I spoke with, who simply needed some persuasion to turn away from the path of sin."

"I don't sleep," the angel explained. "The church is very quiet at night. Sometimes I bake, or prepare other food for the charity kitchen. Or read holy scriptures. There are so very many, you know." He looked around them at the night and said, "But solitude was unsatisfactory. I felt that I was needed elsewhere. And as for violence, I prefer to draw my sword to defend, not punish." There was no judgement in the words at all, perhaps odd for an angel, just a simple statement of fact. "There is pain enough in this world as it is."

"Screw you, space fascist!" Lara called, waving her fist defiantly. "You can warn me all you want, but I'll never surrender!" And with that she took off, going very fast, and heading into the bright blue sky overhead. Whatever was wrong with her, there was nothing wrong with her ability to fly, her unconscious friend thrown over her shoulders like the proverbial Continental soldier, skirt flapping defiantly in the breeze behind her.

Despite Kara's bold words, Kid Cthulu's blast caught her off-guard, sending her hurling to the floor and away as the blast of mystic heat bowled her over like a squamous firehose. At the sight of her friend's defeat, Lara's resolve stiffened, though, and the loss of one opponent meant another rose to take her place. "I'm not going back on restriction!" she exclaimed. "Not even if a monster says I should." She took off into the air, hovering several feet above the ground, and bent down to scoop up her fallen friend.

DC 21 Tou save, LS.